The Bible Doctrine of Death
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
As we read the report, we could not help asking, Did the man ever read the Bible? and if so, does he believe it? Even the Revised Version, with all its changes, has not dropped the words "dead" and "death." If there are no dead, what does the Bible mean when it says of each one of the patriarchs, "And he died"? What are we to understand when we read, "It is appointed unto men once to die" (Heb. 9:27); "by one man sin came into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men" (Rom. 5:12); and many similar passages which speak of death? Does the "Reverend Doctor" wish us to take his "thoughts" in preference to the Bible? And if it is permitted us to believe the Bible, in what dictionary will we find a proper definition of Bible words? For if we take Webster's definition of Bible terms, the preacher's suppositions are greatly at fault. Again, he thinks "that those who have passed away are now living in the full possession of all the faculties possessed here." What reason has he for thinking so? When Hezekiah was sick, the Lord said to him, "Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die and not live." Isa. 38:1. Christ says: "I am he that liveth, and was dead." Rev. 1:18. The Bible recognizes a great difference between life and death. Hezekiah saw so much difference that he wept sore at the thought that he should die and not live. Now, query: If "death" means "life," are not the two terms identical? They must be, and therefore "life" means "death," and "living" means "dead." Then why are we not justified in saying that there are no living? that all who are on earth are dead, and "know not anything"? Would we be any farther out of the way than the San Francisco preacher? The speaker thought that the dead are in possession of all their faculties. We do not. Do you want to know how we dare differ with a man who writes "D. D." after his name? If you have a Bible, open it and turn to Eccl. 9:5. Now read slowly: "For the living know that they shall die [some pretend not to]; but the dead know not anything." Read also the tenth verse: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest." We commend this verse to the preacher above mentioned, with this explanation thrown in, that when Solomon says, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," he has no reference to preaching sermons that contradict the Bible. Read once more, "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man in whom is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish." Ps. 146:3, 4. Are we not justified in differing with the learned doctor? We advise our friend who is looking up these references, to read carefully the last quotation. "Put not your trust in princes," neither in doctors of divinity, but in the word of the Lord, which abideth forever. Once more, "The spirits of our departed friends and relatives are with us, always hovering near." Again we dissent. Why? Read the preceding paragraph again, and you will see. But we ask you to open your Bible once more, and turn this time to Job, and read the fourteenth chapter at your leisure. We will together read verses 19-21: "Thou destroyest the hope of man. Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth; thou changest his countenance and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Will some one tell us why we should not believe the words of the Bible rather than those of a man? It is not probable that one of those who listened to that sermon dreamed that it was a Spiritualist sermon. They would be surprised, perhaps indignant, if you should tell them so. "Why," they might say, "Spiritualism is something horrible, but we don't see anything bad about this." Is it not a horrible thing to ignore and deny God's holy word? Read Jer. 5:30, 31, and see what the Lord says about it. Spiritualism is simply the doctrine that there is really no death, but that the (so-called) dead may hold communication with the (so-called) living. The only terrible thing about it is that it is a square denial of the Bible, the inspired word of God, and an acceptance of the words of Satan, the father of lies, who first promulgated the doctrine. See Gen. 3:4. But a more terrible thing than this we cannot imagine. And the most frightful thing of all is that people look upon it as truth, and think that it is pleasant. What is to hinder the whole world from being swamped in this last great delusion of the archdeceiver? Nothing but the plain truths of God's word, repeated again and again. But, alas! with the majority even this will not avail, for "my people doth not consider."